Use of Fruit By-Products in the Preparation of Hypoglycemic Thepla: Indian Unleavened Vegetable Flat Bread

According to the World Health Organization 2011 fact sheet, about 346 million people worldwide have diabetes. Lower glycemic index (GI) and high-dietary foods are recommended especially for diabetic patients. In the present article, efforts were made to study the effect of various levels of powdered fruit by-products viz., apple pomaces, papaya peels and watermelon rinds on GI value of thepla (Indian unleavened vegetable flat bread). The powdered fruit by-products mentioned earlier were then added in whole-wheat flour from 3, 6 to 9% on w/w basis along with spices and prepared into thepla dough. Thepla dough was evaluated for dough stickiness, work of adhesion and dough strength. Control thepla and other samples were evaluated for GI and sensory analysis. From the present study, it was observed that control thepla had 68.1 GI values where as with the addition of apple pomaces (9%), papaya peels (9%) and watermelon rinds (3%), GI significantly lowered to 63.38, 55.24 and 55.29, respectively. Practical Applications Thepla is an Indian unleavened flatbread made from whole-wheat flour with added spices and vegetables. Thepla has good taste and a high nutritive value (high fiber, low GI); hence, it is very popular among the population of the western part of India. Considering the importance of thepla, it was taken for the development of a hypoglycemic product by adding various fruit by-products. India is fast becoming a capital country of diabetic patients. Therefore, the demand for hypoglycemic products is very high. This research work explores the benefits of powedered fruit by-products for improvement of thepla qualities. The popularity of thepla in India as well as of the added functional ingredients, makes it a nutritious and commercially important product.